Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester Mensah, has told Joy News the Authority is hoping to fully automate general activities of the scheme by the end of the year. This includes issuance of biometric ID cards and computerising claims payment of all service providers. The Authority has already started a pilot exercise of computerising claims payment for service providers in the Greater Accra region. According to Mr Mensah, “It is now the challenge of providers to meet the challenge of submitting electronic claims". He stated that the Authority is currently supporting 46 providers across the country in the pilot. The Authority will also begin issuing biometric ID cards to new subscribers this month. Chief Executive of the Authority, also told Joy News the initiatives would make implementation of the scheme more efficient. He said the Authority is working towards electronic transmissions and vetting of claims, which requires that the claims are digitised from the service provider and transmitted to the claims processing centre.